A Charge to Discipleship - Week 3

Certainly in varying degrees, and it's certainly true in some degree in our church, that there's a gap in what we say we believe and the way in which we actually live that out.

That at given moments in any of our days, you can look at us and say, this person doesn't love Jesus at all.

And so two weeks ago, I kind of began this charge to discipleship as we're taking a bit of a break from Mark for the month of February,

and began by talking about how if we are going to follow him, then we have to care about what he cares about.

That the primary thing we should be concerned about is the advancement of the gospel, the building of the kingdom, the making of disciples.

This was his great commission, the big charge that he gave to the church.

Our church, as a local expression of the universal church, has a responsibility to this.

And not that it's a burden, but it's a joy that God has given us to his mission in the world.

Last week, we looked at the ongoing way that this activity is encouraged and supported, and that is in the life of a congregation,

in the way in which the church meets, or at very least, should meet together.

And I emphasized the fact that the primary way in which our church is going to do this,

the specific way that our church is going to do this, is through our community outreach groups.

We're going to be pressing at each other to have our actions match the things that we say that we believe.

That we're going to press at each other in this way.

And I said to you last week, as this week's sermon is going to be about the particulars, the biblical parameters for evangelism,

finding people becoming, that first step of becoming a disciple,

that one sermon on evangelism is not enough for you.

In fact, if I were to preach a sermon on evangelism, how to evangelize every single week for the rest of this year,

it wouldn't be enough, because you need more than that.

Not just hearing it, you need to be putting it into practice, and we need one another to do this.

The accountability and the pressing, we need to be encouraged in this direction.

Living for God in the kingdom opposes the desires of our flesh.

Praise God we have new spirits, we've been made new creations,

and God has given us a community called the church to push each other in this way.

And so this is what we talked about last week.

And so this week we're going to talk a bit more about the specifics of sharing the gospel,

and then next week, discipleship.

How do we go on from there?

Once we see people come to faith in Christ, what do we do?

What are the responsibilities we should take up?

And how do the scriptures guide us in that process?

And so our major text for today, I had you in Mark 8.

Turn back just a few pages to Mark chapter 4.

Mark 4 · chapter mention

I'm going to read to you a rather large chunk of Jesus' teaching here.

I hope that you'll stick with me.

I'm going to come back and address specific parts of it,

but Jesus' teaching is taken here in this completion,

and he begins with this parable called the parable of the sower.

And I want to draw your attention before we read the entire thing together,

because in verse 10, we see that the disciples don't know exactly what he's talking about, right?

And when he was alone, those around him with the twelve asked him about the parables.

This one specifically, he says,

And he said to them,

To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God,

but for those outside everything in parables,

so that they may indeed see but not perceive,

may indeed hear but not understand,

lest they should turn and be forgiven.

And he's giving these parables in such a way that those with spiritual illumination will understand them,

and those without will not.

And then in verse 13, he says,

Do you not understand this parable?

How then will you understand all parables?

So this is a very important one for us to get right,

and he goes on with a couple of other parables.

Also, mostly, at least two of the three,

have this agrarian theme to them as well,

to help them get some understanding of the way in which the kingdom is going to come about,

and their part to play in that.

So follow along with me as I read Mark chapter 4,

Mark 4:1–32

verses 1 through 32.

Here we go.

Again, he began to teach beside the sea,

and a very large crowd gathered about him,

so that he got into a boat and sat in it on the sea,

and the whole crowd was beside the sea on the land.

And he was teaching them many things in parables,

and in his teaching he said to them,

Listen,

a sower went out to sow,

and as he sowed,

some seed fell along the path,

and the birds came and devoured it.

Other seed fell along the rocky ground

where it did not have much soil,

and immediately it sprang up

since it had no depth of soil.

And when the sun rose,

it was scorched,

and since it had no root,

it withered away.

Other seed fell among thorns,

and the thorns grew up and choked it

and yielded no grain.

And other seed fell into good soil

and produced grain,

growing up and increasing

and yielding thirtyfold

and sixtyfold

and a hundredfold.

And he said,

He who has ears to hear,

let him hear.

So we see that there's these

varying types of soil,

and the reality of this

is that the scene would have been

very familiar to them

as this was an agrarian society

by and large,

that they had many, many fields

around the cities,

and there would have been

these hard-worn paths in between.

And in fact,

a lot of the roads

that were traveled in this day

were simply these paths

between the fields.

So this hard path

is what he's referring to there.

And the sower goes out,

and as he's scattering his seed,

as he's throwing it to the wind

so that it'll be scattered

across the field,

it lands in various places

and various things happen.

We see good soil,

we see a rocky soil,

we see one that's choked out

by thorns,

and we see another

that the birds come along

and eat it up.

So he's giving us

this picture

that they would have

totally been able

to wrap their minds around

that this is the way

in which the word of God

is going to be received

in the world.

So let's get down

to his explanation.

Verse 14,

the sower sows the word.

The seed is the word of God.

It's the gospel.

And these are the ones

along the path

where the word is sown.

When they hear,

Satan immediately comes

and takes away the word

that is sown in them.

And these are the ones

sown on rocky ground,

the one who,

when they hear the word,

immediately receive it with joy.

And they have no root

in themselves,

but endure for a while.

Then, when tribulation

or persecution arises

on account of the word,

immediately they fall away.

And others are the ones

sown among thorns.

They are those who hear the word,

but the cares of the world

and the deceitfulness

of riches

and the desires

for other things

enter in and choke the word,

and it proves unfruitful.

But those who were sown

on the good soil

are the ones who hear the word

and accept it

and bear fruit,

thirtyfold

and sixtyfold

and a hundredfold.

And he said to them,

Is a lamp brought in

to be put under a basket

or under a bed

and not on a stand?

For nothing is hidden

except to be made manifest,

nor is anything secret

except to come to light.

If anyone has ears to hear,

let him hear.

And he said to them,

Pay attention to what you hear.

With the measure you use,

it will measure to you,

and still more will be added to you.

For the one who has,

more will be given.

And from the one who has not,

even what he has

will be taken away.

And he said,

The kingdom of God

is as if a man

should scatter seed

on the ground.

He sleeps and rises

night and day,

and the seed sprouts

and grows.

He knows not how.

The earth produces

by itself

first the blade,

then the ear,

then the full grain

in the ear.

But when the grain is ripe,

at once he puts in the sickle,

because the harvest

has come.

And he said,

With what can we compare

the kingdom of God,

or what parable

shall we use for it?

It is like a grain

of mustard seed,

which,

when sown on the ground,

is the smallest

of all the seeds

on the earth.

Yet when it is sown,

it grows up

and becomes larger

than all the garden plants

and puts out

large branches

so that the birds

of the air

can make nests

in its shade.

Let's pray together.

Father God,

I would ask today

as we open up your word

that you would humble us

before it.

we recognize

that all scripture

is breathed out by you

and that it's

profitable for us.

Not simply for us

to gain

for our own sake,

but that we might

live righteously

before you,

that we would

please you,

which is

certainly

great gain.

I pray,

Father,

that you will work in us

a miracle

by your Spirit,

that the scriptures

will be illuminated

to us this day,

that you will change

our hearts

by the listening

to it

and the application

of it.

Find us, God,

not to be

simply hearers,

but doers also

of your word.

Find

working in us

the great mark

of Christian

maturity,

which is obedience.

And we pray this

in Christ's name.

Amen.

So,

three points

I want to give

to you today.

And the first one is

that we must

share

the gospel.

We must

share

the gospel.

And I know

that that is

maybe even

somewhat trite

in your mind.

You've heard this

many times before.

Of course we must

share

the gospel.

But here is a

point at which

I think that we

know this to be true,

but so very rarely

prove it.

We very rarely

express that

and walk it

out.

Remember verse

20 of chapter 4.

Those that were

sown on the good

soil are the

ones who hear

the word.

We're all

saying,

we're all

expressing when

we say we're

disciples of Jesus

Christ that we

are good soil.

We have received

the word.

We accept it.

And he says

it bears fruit.

Thirty-fold,

sixty-fold,

a hundred-fold.

That this will be

a necessary

outcome of the

life of a

disciple of

Jesus Christ.

The bearing

of fruit.

Verse 21,

And he said to

them,

Is a lamp

brought in to

be put under

a basket or

under a bed and

not on a stand?

For nothing is

hidden except to

be manifest,

nor is anything

secret except to

come to light.

And he's being

very tongue-in-cheek.

Why would anybody

ever light a lamp?

Why would God

illuminate our

minds and our

hearts and then

have us hidden

away somewhere?

This is not the

job of the believer.

The job of the

believer is to be

out in the

darkness,

giving light to

people who

desperately need

it.

It's the obvious

thing that you do

with light as you

expose it to the

darkness.

I want us to have

the mind that was

Paul's mind as he

shares in Romans

and in 1 Corinthians.

Romans 1.16,

he says,

for I am not

ashamed of the

gospel.

We are so often

ashamed of the

good news of

Jesus Christ,

for it is the

power of God

for salvation to

everyone who

believes, to the

Jew first, and

also to the

Greek.

This message

that we

proclaimed is

the message by

which we came to

believe, and it

is the very power

of God to bring

others into his

kingdom.

those who are

without this

message eternally

damned, eternally

separated from him,

and they will

suffer torment

forever.

There's a general

grace to this

world right now

that keeps people

who have sinned

against God from

not being just

destroyed.

People generally

experience and

enjoy the warmth

of the sun, the

goodness of food,

the celebration

of family, but

someday when they

pass, those things

will pass away,

and they will be

tormented forever

and ever.

And it is the

gospel that is the

power of God to

save them from it.

Paul writes again

in Romans chapter

Romans 10:13

10, verse 13 and

14, for everyone

who calls on the

name of the Lord

will be saved.

How then will

they call on him

in whom they

have not believed?

And how are they

to believe in him

in whom they've

never heard?

And how are they

to hear without

someone preaching?

Beloved, don't

get caught up in

the cultural

narrative that

there are multiple

ways to heaven.

There are not.

Jesus is the way,

the truth, and

the life.

People must respond

in faith to

gospel proclamation.

And what Paul is

expressing to us

here is that we

are the tools by

which the gospel

is proclaimed.

I may feel like a

heavy burden laid

upon your shoulders,

but let me say to

you that God

doesn't need you.

God is God.

He would cease

to be God

if he needed

you.

But God,

in all of his

infinite wisdom

and his love

for us,

has chosen to

use us

to be the

instruments

for gospel

advancement

for the sake

of our joy.

To experience

the blessing

of being part

of his work

in the world.

So we must

preach.

We must go.

We are tools

in his hands.

In Romans 9,

1-3,

Paul says this,

I am speaking

the truth in

Christ.

I am not lying.

My conscience

bears me witness

in the Holy Spirit

that I have

great sorrow

and unceasing

anguish

in my heart.

For I could

wish that I

myself were

accursed

and cut off

from Christ

for the sake

of my brothers.

The longing

of Paul's

heart to see

those that

were his kin,

other Israelites,

those who had

been given

so much revelation

of the truth

of God,

and yet had

not responded

favorably to it.

He so desired

to see them

be part of

the kingdom

that he said

he himself

would be willing

to be cut off

from God

for eternity

to see that

be the case.

Is this true

of anybody

in this room?

1 Corinthians

1 Corinthians 9 · chapter mention

chapter 9.

Turn to this one

with me.

1 Corinthians

1 Corinthians 9 · chapter mention

chapter 9.

1 Corinthians

1 Corinthians 9 · chapter mention

chapter 9.

Verse 19.

Paul gives up

his liberty,

puts aside

some of the

things that

he has been

granted access

to in the

gospel of grace

for the sake

of others.

He says,

For though I

am free from

all,

this is 9,

19,

I have made

myself a servant

to all,

that I might

win more of

them.

To the Jews

I became as a

Jew in order

to win Jews.

To those under

the law I became

as one under

the law,

though not

being myself

under the law,

that I might

win those

under the law.

To those outside

the law I became

as one outside

the law,

not being outside

the law of God,

but under the

law of Christ,

that I might

win those

outside the law.

To the weak I

became weak,

that I might

win the weak.

I become all

things to all

people,

that by all

means I might

save some.

I do it all

for the sake

of the gospel,

that I may

share with

them in its

blessings.

Now there is

so much that

could be said

about becoming

all things

to all people

and what that

means in our

day-to-day living.

But the emphasis

that I want you

to get from here

is how desperately

he wants to see

people come into

the kingdom,

that he might

share with them

in its blessings.

For the sake

of his joy,

he puts aside

trivial things,

things that are

not that important,

the way in which

he conducts himself,

what he eats,

what he drinks,

because he so

wants to enjoy

the blessing

of the gospel.

Back up a few

verses.

1 Corinthians 9,

16.

Paul says,

For if I preach

the gospel,

that gives me

no ground

for boasting.

I have no

space in this

to say I am

a preacher of

the gospel.

Good for me.

He says,

For necessity

is laid upon me.

Woe to me

if I do not

preach the gospel.

Is this the

mind that we

have within us?

That we must

preach the gospel.

That there is a

draw on our

hearts because

we so love

Jesus that we

love the things

that he loves.

That we recognize

that his great

work in this world

is about the

building of his

church.

The salvation of

souls that they

might come in

and be discipled,

that they might

sing his praises

forever.

We sang a song

and we said

again and again

and again,

Hallelujah,

which is a

Cobb Brown Hebrew

phrase,

which means

it's a command,

come and

praise my

God with me.

That's what that

phrasing means.

And that is the

hallelujah of our

life is that we

go and advance

the gospel.

We say to people,

come and praise

your God,

the God that

created you,

come back into

a right relationship

with him and

praise him with

me.

He is worthy of

all honor and

all praise.

We want people

as believers to

sing his praises

in greater and

higher degree,

at least I

hope.

That we do.

We must

preach the

gospel.

So do you

sow seed?

Do you sow

the word at

all?

And if you do,

how do you

sow the seed?

Because the

picture painted

for us here

would have been

a very liberal

sowing of the

seed.

There was

plenty of

seed,

so much

seed in

fact that

it was okay

that some

of it fell

on the

path.

It wasn't

all that

important that

every bit of

seed made

it onto

the field,

but that

the seed

was being

cast in

wide and

in liberal

ways.

Being

sown out

so generously

because we

so desire

to see

a yield.

We want

to find

the good

soil.

We want

the word

to fall

on the

good soil

that it

will bring

forth fruit,

that there

will be a

yield,

a harvest

to be had

at the

right time.

I think

that many

of us walk

around rather

than with

large bags

full of

seed that

we sow

and we

sow

and we

sow

and we

sow.

We have

maybe a

couple little

seeds we

carry around

in our

pocket and

we're maybe

looking for

that perfect

opportunity.

Maybe when

I spot some

good soil and

I'm confident

it's good

soil,

I've only got

a couple

of seeds so

I don't want

to put a

seed in any

kind of bad

soil,

I'll put

the seed in

the good

soil.

And I'll

say I'm

a Christian,

I'm following

Jesus,

I know I'm

supposed to

do this

thing.

Rather than

recognizing that

we have the

time and

the ability,

the grace of

God given

to us,

that we

would sow

and sow

and sow

and sow

that we

would plant

the word

everywhere.

You want

to know how

you figure

out where

the good

soil is?

You sow

the seed

everywhere

and you

see where

the good

plants come

up that

stick around

and yield

fruit.

That's how

you know.

How do we

see where the

spirit's at

work,

plowing the

field,

preparing the

soil?

That's not

our work,

that's his

work.

How do we

know where

that's

happening?

We sow

seed and

we see

what happens

with the

seed.

So we

have to

be sowing.

We must

share the

gospel.

We must

go and

go and

go and

go.

In verse

30 of

chapter 4 of

Mark,

Jesus says,

with what can

we compare

the kingdom

of God or

what parable

shall we use

for it?

He tells

us about

this grain

of mustard

seed,

which is

incredibly

tiny.

A grain

of mustard

seed is

a speck.

It's so

easy.

If I had

one in

my hand

and I

breathed on

it, it

would blow

off my

hand and

we would

totally lose

it in

this room.

A tiny

little thing,

but it grows

up into

something that

is large

in the

garden.

It has a

great deal

of usefulness.

And what

he's saying

here is

that our

little sharing,

it seems

so insignificant

sometimes,

it feels

often pointless.

Have you

had those

gospel

conversations

with somebody

where you

just feel

like you're

beating your

head against

the brick

wall trying

to talk

to them,

and you

just go,

I just

don't

understand

how it

is that

God

intends to

use me

to advance

this kingdom.

It seems

totally

insignificant.

This is

what he's

trying to

say.

But guess

what?

When it's

planted in

good soil,

it yields

a wonderful

bush that

has great

usefulness in

the kingdom

of God.

Paul says

in 1 Corinthians

3,

5-9,

what then

is Apollos

who was a

disciple?

What is

Paul?

Servants

through whom

you believed

as the

Lord assigned

to each.

I planted,

Apollos

watered,

but God

gave the

growth.

So neither

he who

plants nor

he who

waters is

anything,

but only

God who

gives the

growth.

He who

plants and

he who

waters are

one,

and each

will receive

his wages

according to

his labor.

For we are

God's fellow

workers.

You are

God's

field,

God's

building.

So our

responsibility in

this, as you

can see Paul

saying,

Paul is

saying that

I planted.

Another

disciple came

along and

watered,

but ultimately

and finally

God gave

the growth.

It is his

kingdom and

we have a

part to

play in

this.

He's

invited us

into his

work to

sow the

seed, to

sow the

word of

the gospel

liberally

everywhere we

go.

We must

share the

gospel.

Secondly, we

must share the

gospel regularly.

It must

become a

natural part

of our

life and

our living.

There's a

parable again

that we read

together,

chapter 4,

verse 26

through 29.

The kingdom

of God is

if a man

should scatter

seed on the

ground.

Here again

we see the

scattering of

seed.

He sleeps

and rises

night and

day and

the seed

sprouts and

grows.

He knows

not how.

He doesn't

understand how

it is that

the seed takes

any effect

in anybody's

life.

There's a

great mystery

of the

gospel that

the spirit

of God

comes into

people and

changes their

hearts,

completely

changes their

affections,

causes them

to do a

180 from

being an

enemy of

God to

being a

friend of

God.

Causes them

to be

eternally

condemned

before him

to being

justified

before him

in Christ.

It's

incredible

miracle is

what he's

communicating

to himself.

The earth

produces by

itself,

the blade,

the ear.

We get the

science behind

this.

They certainly

didn't.

God's work

in bringing

about the

harvest.

And every

year when the

grain is ripe,

once he puts

in the

cycle because

the harvest

has come,

and this is

something that

would have

happened for

this person

every year,

this regular

sowing,

this regular

sowing,

this reaping,

seeing the

growth,

reaping the

reward,

we are to

share the

gospel regularly.

In the past

two weeks I've

shared with you

on a white

board,

we're going to

put it up on

the screen

today because

this is all I

needed on the

screen,

on the board,

that this

tri-county area

that we live in,

where our church

property is,

is pretty

equilaterally located

between Dawsonville

and Dahlonega and

Gainesville.

So in those three

counties, Hall,

Lumpkin, Dawson

counties, there's

approximately 232,000

people.

And I've shared

with you that the

Chattahoochee Baptist

Association estimates

that 80% of that

population is

unchurched.

It's a fairly loose

definition, the 20%,

they don't give a

denominational, not

necessarily a

Georgia Baptist

church, Southern

Baptist in

denomination, but

80% unchurched,

that's 185,600

people.

This is kind of a

staggering number,

185,600 people,

just in this area,

right here where we

live.

That if we're

optimistic as I

think they are in

this estimation,

because we know

that if somebody is

in a church, it

doesn't necessarily

mean that they're a

disciple of Jesus

Christ, but if we

just say this is the

lost population

around us, this is

a staggering,

staggering number,

beloved, that

leaves 46,400

churched.

So let's again be

optimistic and let's

say that all of

those people are in

fact disciples of

Jesus Christ.

46,400 people who

claim the name of

Jesus Christ.

And what I say to

you is that if

these 46,400 were

actively involved in

sowing seed, we

would be reaping a

harvest.

That seed would be

falling on good

soil.

Now something for

us to know and to

remember about these

parables is that

Jesus is also trying

to communicate to

them that some

people will not

receive the word.

don't become

discouraged by that.

There are going to

be bad soils.

Soils that just

will not reap

harvest.

At least now, maybe

a bad soil becomes a

good soil as the

plowing work of the

spirit works in their

life.

But we should be

reaping a harvest

if we're sowing, if

we're finding the good

soil and planting the

word in it.

Now, the current U.S.

mortality rate, just

to make this, give us

an eternal perspective

on this, I mean, all

of these people, again,

assuming 185,600 people

are not saved, they're

not experiencing the

joy of the gospel here

and now, they're

separated from God

here and now.

These things are

horrible, but for

eternity they will be

separated if they

don't respond in faith

to the gospel of

Christ.

The current U.S.

mortality rate means

that 1,500 of those

185,600 will die this

year.

1,500 of those

people will die,

presuming that they're

not saved, that they

have not yet been

saved from their sin,

they are still enemies

of God, they are doomed

to eternal damnation.

This should break our

hearts.

This should press us to

the point where Paul is

at, where we would say,

I wish that I would be

cut off, that I would be

cursed, if just some of

these would come to

faith.

I'm willing to become

all things to all

people, I'm willing to

lay aside all of my

desires, all of my

wishes, because I know

Jesus cares about

these people.

I know that he wants

them to hear the

gospel of Jesus

Christ, that he wants

to give them opportunity

to respond in faith to

the good news of the

gospel.

I believe that the

life, death, and

resurrection of Christ

has great power.

I said to you two weeks

ago that I think we

often operate under the

assumption that God

doesn't want to save

people.

Our actions at least

seem to reflect that,

rather than operating

under the assumption

that he does.

He has good, eternal,

loving plans for the

world around us, and I

so want our church to be

involved in that.

Now, Paul, in speaking of

the ministry of

reconciliation that God

has given us in Christ,

said in 2 Corinthians 5

16, we regard no one

according to the flesh.

And so keep this in mind

as you leave this place,

you go out into the world

around you, you go grab

some lunch.

We ought not be looking at

people as temporal things.

Everything else in this

world you can view as

temporal, because it is for

sure.

But people themselves have

eternal souls.

Do not regard any of them

according to flesh.

And they're following one

of two ways.

They're following God and

obedience to him.

They're found in him.

They've been saved.

They will one day

eternally rejoice with him

in glory, or they're not.

And their end is destruction.

And they need the gospel.

Now, I know that often

statistics can be really

challenging.

I mean, this is just a

number on a screen, right?

It's zeros and ones on a

computer that projected an

image up onto a screen.

Much different than reality.

And so, you need to think of

people that you know that are

in this category.

Real human souls.

Not simply a digit on a

screen together, but there's

a reality to this.

And there are people passing

all the time around us.

There are people currently

separated from God that need

to know him.

They need to be made right

again with him.

And so we're going to take a

break from the sermon.

When you guys all sat down,

there was a piece of paper,

mostly blank.

So, one verse at the top of it,

and I want you to get it out.

I know many of you bring

paper with you on Sunday

mornings, and that's good.

I encourage you to be an

active listener and take

notes.

But I don't want any excuses

this morning.

So, you all have paper.

And right now, if you need a

pen, I want you to raise your

hand.

We have got pens galore.

Here we go.

They're coming at you.

You might be ready to catch

them.

And the guys are going to

make their way around with a

pen, and I'm going to tell you

what we're going to do with

these.

And what we're going to do,

again, may seem trite to you.

I don't care.

I want you to do it anyway.

Because I think that we too

often place ourselves above some

kind of exercise and practice

like this, and therefore we do

just nothing at all.

There are 15 lines on this piece of

paper.

After the fact, after I had

printed all these up, I did a

little bit of math, and I was just

curious, really.

And I took this 46,400 churched

people, right?

The remainder above and beyond

that, this 46,400.

And I just did a little math, and I

just said, if we could just get 25% of

these people, just 25% of that

population to actively be sharing the

gospel with their neighbors,

relatives, friends, coworkers, etc.

All the people that run in their

spheres of influence that are not

followers of Christ.

Then the responsibility of each

individual, and I know that this is

kind of a vacuum number, I get that

there's a lot of overlaps in those

spheres, but provided they were

evenly spread out across these

three counties, would be 16 people.

So I wish I'd given you 16 lines,

but I gave you 15.

Feel free to use the margin at the

bottom if you would like.

So we're going to take a break,

just a five-minute break.

We've got one song that's going to

get played over the speakers, and I

want you to do your very best to

list 15 people that you don't

believe are followers of Jesus

Christ, right?

It's kind of tough to tell in our

culture sometimes, because everyone

seems to say they are.

People that you don't think are

followers of Jesus Christ.

And it could be as simple as a girl

with blonde hair at Subway.

Like, you may not know her name, but

maybe you need to figure out what her

name is.

You may have specific people that are

coming to your mind.

I want you to make a list, if you can,

in this amount of time, do your very,

very best to make a list of 15 people

that you know, your sphere, right?

That you personally encounter

throughout the week, that you may see

this coming week, that are not

disciples of Jesus Christ, as far as

you may know.

And then we'll get back together in

just a few minutes.

So if you bring that music up, guys,

in about five minutes.

All right.

Now, if you're astute at all, let me

first say that there are 20 lines.

Because I had 15 lines, and I made

the font size bigger to give you more

space to write, and it bumped the lines

up.

So I started counting mine.

I thought, my gosh, oh, okay, the lines.

Oh, the lines are all messed up.

Okay, so there are 20 lines.

And good for you if you fill them all up.

Now, I'm just going to assume, and maybe

a lot of you couldn't quite get to 15 on

your sheet of paper.

But if there are that many, there are a

lot of souls represented by the people

in this room, the influences that you

have, the people that you get to be

around and give gospel proclamation to.

I think it's also probably pretty safe

to presume that there's not a lot of

overlap.

A lot of you are college students.

You may know some of the same people.

As a friend group, you may be ministering

and loving on some of the same people.

But there's probably not a lot of

overlap.

What a massive opportunity to be going

and to be pressing and to be sharing.

Now, if you are not a person that likes

this kind of stuff, you don't like it

when I start talking about statistics.

Let me read something to you by Charles

Spurgeon in a book he wrote called

The Soul Winner.

He said,

I am not among those who decry statistics,

nor do I consider that they are productive

of all manner of evil.

For they do much good if they are accurate

and if men use them lawfully.

It is a good thing for people to see

the nakedness of the land which statistics

of decrease.

That they may have been driven on their

knees before the Lord to seek prosperity.

And on the other hand,

it is by no means an evil thing for workers

to be encouraged by having some account

of results set before them.

We should see the failing

as well as be encouraged

by the success.

I should be very sorry

if the practice of adding up

and deducting

and giving in the net result

were to be abandoned.

For it must be right to know

our numerical condition.

It has been noticed

that those who object to the process

are often brethren

whose unsatisfactory reports

should somewhat humiliate them.

This is not always so,

but it is suspiciously frequent.

People who don't want to talk about numbers,

and I want to talk about growth,

typically are those

who would be very embarrassed

if they did.

This is what he is suggesting to us.

So, what do I want you to do

with this little sheet?

You know, it is conveniently

the size of your Bible,

likely,

will fit very conveniently in there.

Firstly,

begin to pray for the people

on this sheet.

Intercessory prayer is number one.

Pray for them.

Ask that God will be working

in their hearts.

Ask that He would be plowing

the soil

so that good seed

can land on it.

It's very possible

that some of these people

may receive the word

from somebody else,

but be in the process

of praying for them.

Ask that God would save

the souls

of the people on your sheet.

Secondly,

look for opportunities

to love them sacrificially.

Right?

As circumstances arise,

be available for people.

Go that extra step

for people.

Show people

that you care about them.

There are opportunities

abound to step

into somebody's life

and be a part

of the hurt

that's going on

in the world.

As the pastor

of this church,

let me tell you

that there are hurts

in our church.

And this extends

out beyond these walls.

Right?

This world is sin-infected.

We are all hurting

because of the rampant

nature of sin

in this world.

I jokingly ask people

all the time,

people talk about

health issues

and things like that.

I say,

you know why, right?

And they go,

no, I go, sin?

Right?

That's the thing

that's messed everything up

in this world.

Anything that goes poorly,

it's because of sin.

And it's running rampant.

So there's all kinds

of opportunities

to come alongside people

and love on people.

I tell you,

I can't do it all myself.

Right?

I need your help.

You've got to be with people.

You've got to be out there

in the community

loving them sacrificially

as the circumstances arise.

And thirdly,

commit to proclaiming

the gospel

to three people

on this list

in the next two weeks.

I want you to make

a star,

an asterisk,

a smiley face,

a swirly thing.

I don't care.

Whatever you want to make,

I want you to put next

to three people on this,

three people that you believe

that you'll be able

to share,

make gospel proclamation

to in the next two weeks.

Right?

It's a simple thing.

Don't ask their permission

to do it.

Say, hey,

I have something

I want to tell you

that's really important

and preach the gospel

to them.

And I'm going to tell you

a little bit more

about that in a moment.

But let's do that.

Three people

over the next two weeks.

If you're part of

a community outreach group,

share it with them.

If you're not,

get involved with one.

If you're a guest

with us today,

find someone

back where you are,

a group of people

that you can be

accountable to doing this.

And be flexible.

Right?

You might find that

through the process

of loving people

sacrificially

as circumstances arise,

that your plan may change.

And that is good

and fine.

As the Spirit of God

is moving

and working

in the lives

of these people,

be willing

to be flexible

and to make

responses to it.

Now,

do I expect

that simply because

we get active

doing some things

like this

that people

are necessarily

going to come

to faith in Christ?

No.

I don't.

I think that the fact

that we don't see

more people

coming to faith in Christ

is indicative

that we don't do

this like we should.

I think that's very true

of our congregation.

That we're not going

and sharing the gospel

the way we ought to.

But God has at times

in history

withheld blessing

and we should be

very aware of this.

Right?

There are going to be

different types of soil.

Some of these people,

you're going to be faithful,

you're going to get in there,

you're going to do the thing

that you're supposed to do,

and they're going to reject you.

They're going to laugh at you.

Right?

They're going to mock at you.

They're just going to think

you're kind of nutty.

Or they may just not really care

at all.

This is going to happen.

And every time I think about this

and I experience this,

I'm always drawn

to the life of Jeremiah

who was a prophet,

one of the major prophets,

prophesied for a very long time,

for decades.

And it's presumed that he had,

depending on who you hear say,

that he had nobody turn back

to the ways of God

in his ministry.

Some people say won.

Guys, maybe he did.

The text gives us some clue to that.

He won in all of this time

that he was doing this.

And he was hated.

He was always telling people

about the destruction

that was going to come.

If they continued in their ways,

this destruction was coming on them.

Nobody liked Jeremiah.

And in chapter 20,

he laments this.

Chapter 20, verse 7,

he says,

Oh Lord,

you have deceived me

and I was deceived.

You are stronger than I

and you have prevailed.

I have become a laughingstock

all the day.

Everyone mocks me.

For whenever I speak,

I cry out,

I shout,

violence and destruction.

For the word of the Lord

has become for me

a reproach and derision

all day long.

God, you tricked me.

You said to me,

if I follow you,

I'm going to do great things

with you.

Fooled, right?

I'm a total laughingstock.

I'm always telling people

bad news.

In verse 9,

he says,

If I say,

I will not mention him

or speak any more

in his name,

there is in my heart,

as it were,

a burning fire

shut up in my bones

and I am weary

with holding it in

and I cannot.

The word of God

to Jeremiah

was so powerful in him

that he had to share it.

Even though he had

these emotions of,

Oh, I've been tricked.

What a path to walk in.

It's miserable.

But yet God had given him

a word to give to his people

and he had to share it.

So we ought to be

in that position.